Well, here's my second review...
CMC Auto Union Type C "Solitair" 1936-1937
Let me first just say that my last (and first review) was of the Kyosho Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Competizone. I gave it a perfect score, and it deserves such. But, when I compare it with this review subject, there honestly isn't a comparison. This CMC is so much more detailed than the Kyosho, it deserves more than 50 points, but I will stay within the confines of DX's rating system. Some of my photo's are better than others, but there are lots of pics...hope everyone enjoys!!!
The most detailed by far of any of my models. This model is composed of 1,122 pieces. 23 are of die-cast metal, 151 are plastic, 754 are either metal, copper or photo-etch, and 96 are metal rivets, screws, or imitated screw heads. Each individual wire wheel is comprised of 70 hand installed miniature wires, plus the other wheel pieces. Just the amount of pieces for 2 of these wheels is well over the total parts of many Diecast models. Also, actually, the 151 plastic parts are higher in number on this model than the total parts of many Diecast models.
I can not describe this car any better than calling it a rare sculpture, or a beautiful jewel.
Paint: 8
The paint is flawless. This is the best, hands down, paint job I have ever seen on a Diecast model. It is much better than any other model in my collection, including Exoto. It's sort of difficult for me to explain…it's deep without looking thick, extremely shiny, and extremely smooth. It's almost like they carved this out of a silver carved ingot of metal and shined it up. It's that good…almost like it hasn't been painted at all if that makes any sense. The paint when going over it's many vent openings is without flaw also. All the various parts are the same color, no variation at all in the paint quality or quantity at all. Even the tiniest parts, the mirrors as an example, which are separate pieces, are painted with the same precision. The undersides of both removable covers are painted a flat silver. When I compare this paint job with the 3 Exoto's I have that are painted (1 is brushed aluminum), the Exoto's (while having excellent paint jobs themselves) paint jobs actually look a little thick coated.
Exterior: 8
Where do I begin? I'll split this car into 3 sections, the front section, the c*ckpit section, and the rear (engine) section). The front and rear sections will be covered in the "Exterior" heading and the c*ckpit section will be covered in the "Interior" heading. I'll start from the front and go back:
Front Section:
This area starts off with the radiator grill, which is gorgeous. It may be photo-etch, but each individual bar is a separate piece and was hand soldered together. You can see through this grill and view the photo-etch radiator. This grill has 2 rivets, one on each side, and they are larger in size, flat, and brushed metal. The rivets that separate the front section (grill area), from where the hood begins are rounded and chromed, as are the rivets that hold the front hood scoop on. All rivets on this car by the way are separate pieces that have been placed on the body. The front hood has a scoop that is a true vent, and it's a separate piece from the hood that is held on by 8 rivets. The hood is held onto the chassis by beautifully rendered clasps, which also are actually riveted onto the hood and chassis. They are separate pieces and are not molded into the body. These clasps, from what I can tell, are comprised of 4 pieces each, plus 6 rivets each. One of the pieces is stretch rubber that allows you to clasp the clasp onto the hood so that it stays on. No molded in rivets anywhere. There are 3 types of rivets that I can see (may be more types) on this car. The radiator cap is chrome. Separating the rear of the hood with the c*ckpit section is a metal row that has hollow holes in it. This piece is separate and is about the thickness of two pieces of aluminum foil on top of each other. The hood has two open sections, one on each side. On one side, the radiator pipe (it's metal) comes out the side of the car, runs down the side and into the engine compartment. It's held on by two metal clasps which are held on by 2 rivets each (flat brushed metal). Now, lets remove the front hood…
What a site! First, to remove the hood, you have to use the supplied tweezers. That's only necessary because I don't know anybody that has fingers small enough to unlatch the very front-most latches…They are right behind the friction type suspension pieces, and their isn't much clearance. Under the hood, you see lots of pieces and lots of color…gold, light copper, dark copper, silver, black, brushed metal, burnished metal (like a gun-metal) and chrome. There is thin copper tubing (copper wires thinner than a .05 mechanical pencil led) everywhere. There is chrome tubing, braided copper tubing, rubber tubing, and "spring" tubing. The radiator pipe that was discussed earlier doesn't simply bend to go to the radiator, oh no! At each bend, there is a rubber connector that is held on by two metal clasps. Between the 2 rubber connectors is the continuation of the metal pipe (which is painted silver). This connects to the radiator via another rubber connector (held on by two metal clasps) which is connected to a gold colored pipe extension of the radiator over flow tank. On the other side of this overflow tank is a "spring" wire that comes out of this tank. It is connected to the tank via a hexagonal nut. This spring wire is coiled 3 times, and then connects to a copper wire and goes towards the firewall. At the bottom of the radiator is another gold colored pipe that goes down into the chassis, and it's connected with the rubber connector with 2 metal clasps. There are 3 braided copper hoses in the front section, and they each are connected at their respective connections with chrome pipes. The radiator its self is photo etch, and is silver and gold in color. The front section that holds the actual radiator is braced by two 45 degree angled brushed metal supports.
The firewall protrudes into the front section, and all different pieces are held on by the larger sized flat, brushed metal rivets. I can count 16 of these rivets just in this compartment area.
The front axle is authentically solid. The front wheels turn with the steering wheel, but the mechanism is hidden within the firewall. No guts on this model! The friction type suspension is round, painted silver, and these friction suspension pieces have 6 rivets plus other parts. I'll talk about the drum brakes, etc in the correct section of the review, but there are rubber brake lines going to these drum brakes, as well as copper wiring…more on that later…
The Auto Union logo is tampo'd onto the front section, it is comprised of 3 colors; black, gold, and white. The 4 rings are black with a gold edge. The words "Auto Union" are black edged in white. Extremely legible and very, very sharp.
The rear section. Can I continue? My fingers are killing me now…The rear "hood" has 30 vents that are actually vents, plus an area for the exhausts to come out of. There are 16 of these babies, as it's a V-16 engine…The hood is held on by 4 clasps, the same as discussed concerning the front hood. Again, these 4 piece clasps are held on by 6 rivets each. These can be removed with your fingers with ease, as there is nothing to get in your way. Opening these clasps reveals the beautiful engine, which by the way, CMC's website states it's for sale by itself. That by itself says something to me about this engine!
The engine…there are numerous colors here also. We have copper, bronze, silver, chrome, black, brushed metal, brown, and gold. This is a 16 cylinder engine. The 16 exhausts are individually rendered, separate pieces of brushed metal. These brushed metal exhausts are connected to black metal tubes that go to the engine. These 16 exhausts are held to the black metal tubes by a metal band which is wrapped around it all. This band has holes in it, like a belt would. The engine of course is wired and plumbed. The CMC website says you can remove the spark plug wiring and sockets from the block, but I am afraid to try. The distributors are brown in color, and the spark plug wires come out of a brushed metal tube to meet the distributors. There are copper wires here, braided copper wires here, and the roots compressor has extremely well engraved cooling fins. It is silver with black bolts holding it on. It also has chrome pipes going to it and they are covered in places with rubber, I guess as some type of insulation. Behind the engine, you can see the transmission and axle going thru the body.
From what I can see, there are 14 large rivets on each side holding the body panels on. There are also 12 additional cooling vents in the cars rear end, 6 on each side. In addition, there are 2 cooling scoops covered by silver mesh; one on each side of the rear of the body. These separate pieces are held on via 3 large rivets each. There is a gas cap in front of the rear hood, and behind the drivers seat. It flips up, and when you look down the tube, you see a piece of mesh that would act as a filter. At the rear of the car is a protrusion that, to me looks like a connector used to connect the car to an air compressor. Maybe it was started by air pressure, I don't know.
I can not tell if the rear axle is supposed to have a suspension, it looks like it may, but it's a 1936 race car, and I don't know how it would work.. Whether it does or not, it's highly detailed, with rubber brake lines and copper wires.
Flipping the car over, you can see the engine block, some drainage tubes, and copper metal wiring.
Interior: 8
The interior is beautiful. The seat is fabric, and it's in a hounds tooth black and tan fabric. The drivers head rest is genuine real leather, gray in color. The steering wheel is silver and wood colored, and there is a large, glass covered speedometer in the center, surrounded by a chrome ring. The speedometer itself is 5 colors; red, yellow, green, white, and black. There are 4 additional secondary gauges, colors are black and white. There are also some buttons and slide switches. You can see braided copper tubes going from the front section to the rear section on the c*ckpit floor. The sides of the c*ckpit (where the doors would be if it had doors) are a brushed metal, separate piece of course. The floor looks corrugated, and there are 3 drilled petals down there. There is also a chrome emergency brake, and a chrome and black gear shifter, which resides in a gun metal gray gear box. On the drivers right side, you can see the interior side of the radiator pipe that goes down the side of the car to the engine, it bends once in the c*ckpit, this bend of course, is by the rubber connector with 2 metal clasps. This rubber connector is connected to the rear firewall with a connector with 6 rivets. On each side of the seat, on the rear firewall, are two clasps, what they are for, I do not know. There is a pocket built into the base of the drivers seat, on the drivers left side. The tiny c*ckpit windshield has a chrome surround (sides only), and it flips down. The two side mirrors are held on by 3 rivets each, and the mirror glass looks better than any mirror glass I've seen on a model. Could it be a real mirror?
Wheels/Brakes: 6
The wheels have 70 spokes each, plus valve stems, center hubs, and the outer hub. All metal, no plastic. They can be removed by unscrewing the center knock offs. The tires are beatific also, they are labeled as Dunlop racing. The tread patterns are different for the front wheels and rear wheels. The rear wheels are also wider. This racer used the most advanced drum brakes around (advanced…ha, ha, ha, but its 1936) The drum brakes themselves are comprised of at least 12 parts each. They have cooling scoops that face forward so the rush of the air is directed to the drums. These drums also have copper wiring on them, cooling fins, and each drum brake is connected to a rubber brake fluid hose, which is connected to the drum brakes with a hexagonal nut. The inside side of the drums are a gun metal color, while the outside of the drum brakes are the same silver color as the car. The front brake drums differ in appearance from the rear brake drums on the inside and outside, so there was no cost cutting move here (or anywhere on the model).
Engine & Undercarriage Detail 8
The engine…there are numerous colors here also. We have copper, bronze, silver, chrome, black, brushed metal, brown, and gold. This is a 16 cylinder engine. The 16 exhausts are individually rendered, separate pieces of brushed metal. These brushed metal exhausts are connected to black metal tubes that go to the engine. These 16 exhausts are held to the black metal tubes by a metal band which is wrapped around it all. This band has holes in it, like a belt would. The engine of course is wired and plumbed. The CMC website says you can remove the spark plug wiring and sockets from the block, but I am afraid to try. The distributors are brown in color, and the spark plug wires come out of a brushed metal tube to meet the distributors. There are copper wires here, braided copper wires here, and the roots compressor has extremely well engraved cooling fins. It is silver with black bolts holding it on. It also has chrome pipes going to it and they are covered in places with rubber, I guess as some type of insulation. Behind the engine, you can see the transmission and axle going thru the body.
The under carriage is smooth and painted as well as the top and sides of the car. There is a cut out underneath the engine, you can see the bottom of the engine block, which is flat black and has cooling fins engraved into it. You can see some of the transmission, and it is flat silver in color Also, you see 3 braided copper tubes, 2 different drainage holes, one is chrome and sticks out below the car, the other is simply a hole. There are numerous rivets on the bottom of the car, and the separate body panels are obvious here also.
CMC's website says that their models are made in China, but I am not sure if this one is or not. There is no "Made in China", or "Crafted in China" on the body. There are references to Germany. This is molded into the body underside:
"Auto Union 1:18 Type C 1936-1937 CMC GmbH Germany". Nothing else.
Competition: 6
CMC does not have any competition at this time regarding this model.
Desirability: 6
Like an expensive jewel!
Overall: 50 + +
CMC Auto Union Type C "Solitair" 1936-1937
Let me first just say that my last (and first review) was of the Kyosho Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Competizone. I gave it a perfect score, and it deserves such. But, when I compare it with this review subject, there honestly isn't a comparison. This CMC is so much more detailed than the Kyosho, it deserves more than 50 points, but I will stay within the confines of DX's rating system. Some of my photo's are better than others, but there are lots of pics...hope everyone enjoys!!!
The most detailed by far of any of my models. This model is composed of 1,122 pieces. 23 are of die-cast metal, 151 are plastic, 754 are either metal, copper or photo-etch, and 96 are metal rivets, screws, or imitated screw heads. Each individual wire wheel is comprised of 70 hand installed miniature wires, plus the other wheel pieces. Just the amount of pieces for 2 of these wheels is well over the total parts of many Diecast models. Also, actually, the 151 plastic parts are higher in number on this model than the total parts of many Diecast models.
I can not describe this car any better than calling it a rare sculpture, or a beautiful jewel.
Paint: 8
The paint is flawless. This is the best, hands down, paint job I have ever seen on a Diecast model. It is much better than any other model in my collection, including Exoto. It's sort of difficult for me to explain…it's deep without looking thick, extremely shiny, and extremely smooth. It's almost like they carved this out of a silver carved ingot of metal and shined it up. It's that good…almost like it hasn't been painted at all if that makes any sense. The paint when going over it's many vent openings is without flaw also. All the various parts are the same color, no variation at all in the paint quality or quantity at all. Even the tiniest parts, the mirrors as an example, which are separate pieces, are painted with the same precision. The undersides of both removable covers are painted a flat silver. When I compare this paint job with the 3 Exoto's I have that are painted (1 is brushed aluminum), the Exoto's (while having excellent paint jobs themselves) paint jobs actually look a little thick coated.
Exterior: 8
Where do I begin? I'll split this car into 3 sections, the front section, the c*ckpit section, and the rear (engine) section). The front and rear sections will be covered in the "Exterior" heading and the c*ckpit section will be covered in the "Interior" heading. I'll start from the front and go back:
Front Section:
This area starts off with the radiator grill, which is gorgeous. It may be photo-etch, but each individual bar is a separate piece and was hand soldered together. You can see through this grill and view the photo-etch radiator. This grill has 2 rivets, one on each side, and they are larger in size, flat, and brushed metal. The rivets that separate the front section (grill area), from where the hood begins are rounded and chromed, as are the rivets that hold the front hood scoop on. All rivets on this car by the way are separate pieces that have been placed on the body. The front hood has a scoop that is a true vent, and it's a separate piece from the hood that is held on by 8 rivets. The hood is held onto the chassis by beautifully rendered clasps, which also are actually riveted onto the hood and chassis. They are separate pieces and are not molded into the body. These clasps, from what I can tell, are comprised of 4 pieces each, plus 6 rivets each. One of the pieces is stretch rubber that allows you to clasp the clasp onto the hood so that it stays on. No molded in rivets anywhere. There are 3 types of rivets that I can see (may be more types) on this car. The radiator cap is chrome. Separating the rear of the hood with the c*ckpit section is a metal row that has hollow holes in it. This piece is separate and is about the thickness of two pieces of aluminum foil on top of each other. The hood has two open sections, one on each side. On one side, the radiator pipe (it's metal) comes out the side of the car, runs down the side and into the engine compartment. It's held on by two metal clasps which are held on by 2 rivets each (flat brushed metal). Now, lets remove the front hood…
What a site! First, to remove the hood, you have to use the supplied tweezers. That's only necessary because I don't know anybody that has fingers small enough to unlatch the very front-most latches…They are right behind the friction type suspension pieces, and their isn't much clearance. Under the hood, you see lots of pieces and lots of color…gold, light copper, dark copper, silver, black, brushed metal, burnished metal (like a gun-metal) and chrome. There is thin copper tubing (copper wires thinner than a .05 mechanical pencil led) everywhere. There is chrome tubing, braided copper tubing, rubber tubing, and "spring" tubing. The radiator pipe that was discussed earlier doesn't simply bend to go to the radiator, oh no! At each bend, there is a rubber connector that is held on by two metal clasps. Between the 2 rubber connectors is the continuation of the metal pipe (which is painted silver). This connects to the radiator via another rubber connector (held on by two metal clasps) which is connected to a gold colored pipe extension of the radiator over flow tank. On the other side of this overflow tank is a "spring" wire that comes out of this tank. It is connected to the tank via a hexagonal nut. This spring wire is coiled 3 times, and then connects to a copper wire and goes towards the firewall. At the bottom of the radiator is another gold colored pipe that goes down into the chassis, and it's connected with the rubber connector with 2 metal clasps. There are 3 braided copper hoses in the front section, and they each are connected at their respective connections with chrome pipes. The radiator its self is photo etch, and is silver and gold in color. The front section that holds the actual radiator is braced by two 45 degree angled brushed metal supports.
The firewall protrudes into the front section, and all different pieces are held on by the larger sized flat, brushed metal rivets. I can count 16 of these rivets just in this compartment area.
The front axle is authentically solid. The front wheels turn with the steering wheel, but the mechanism is hidden within the firewall. No guts on this model! The friction type suspension is round, painted silver, and these friction suspension pieces have 6 rivets plus other parts. I'll talk about the drum brakes, etc in the correct section of the review, but there are rubber brake lines going to these drum brakes, as well as copper wiring…more on that later…
The Auto Union logo is tampo'd onto the front section, it is comprised of 3 colors; black, gold, and white. The 4 rings are black with a gold edge. The words "Auto Union" are black edged in white. Extremely legible and very, very sharp.
The rear section. Can I continue? My fingers are killing me now…The rear "hood" has 30 vents that are actually vents, plus an area for the exhausts to come out of. There are 16 of these babies, as it's a V-16 engine…The hood is held on by 4 clasps, the same as discussed concerning the front hood. Again, these 4 piece clasps are held on by 6 rivets each. These can be removed with your fingers with ease, as there is nothing to get in your way. Opening these clasps reveals the beautiful engine, which by the way, CMC's website states it's for sale by itself. That by itself says something to me about this engine!
The engine…there are numerous colors here also. We have copper, bronze, silver, chrome, black, brushed metal, brown, and gold. This is a 16 cylinder engine. The 16 exhausts are individually rendered, separate pieces of brushed metal. These brushed metal exhausts are connected to black metal tubes that go to the engine. These 16 exhausts are held to the black metal tubes by a metal band which is wrapped around it all. This band has holes in it, like a belt would. The engine of course is wired and plumbed. The CMC website says you can remove the spark plug wiring and sockets from the block, but I am afraid to try. The distributors are brown in color, and the spark plug wires come out of a brushed metal tube to meet the distributors. There are copper wires here, braided copper wires here, and the roots compressor has extremely well engraved cooling fins. It is silver with black bolts holding it on. It also has chrome pipes going to it and they are covered in places with rubber, I guess as some type of insulation. Behind the engine, you can see the transmission and axle going thru the body.
From what I can see, there are 14 large rivets on each side holding the body panels on. There are also 12 additional cooling vents in the cars rear end, 6 on each side. In addition, there are 2 cooling scoops covered by silver mesh; one on each side of the rear of the body. These separate pieces are held on via 3 large rivets each. There is a gas cap in front of the rear hood, and behind the drivers seat. It flips up, and when you look down the tube, you see a piece of mesh that would act as a filter. At the rear of the car is a protrusion that, to me looks like a connector used to connect the car to an air compressor. Maybe it was started by air pressure, I don't know.
I can not tell if the rear axle is supposed to have a suspension, it looks like it may, but it's a 1936 race car, and I don't know how it would work.. Whether it does or not, it's highly detailed, with rubber brake lines and copper wires.
Flipping the car over, you can see the engine block, some drainage tubes, and copper metal wiring.
Interior: 8
The interior is beautiful. The seat is fabric, and it's in a hounds tooth black and tan fabric. The drivers head rest is genuine real leather, gray in color. The steering wheel is silver and wood colored, and there is a large, glass covered speedometer in the center, surrounded by a chrome ring. The speedometer itself is 5 colors; red, yellow, green, white, and black. There are 4 additional secondary gauges, colors are black and white. There are also some buttons and slide switches. You can see braided copper tubes going from the front section to the rear section on the c*ckpit floor. The sides of the c*ckpit (where the doors would be if it had doors) are a brushed metal, separate piece of course. The floor looks corrugated, and there are 3 drilled petals down there. There is also a chrome emergency brake, and a chrome and black gear shifter, which resides in a gun metal gray gear box. On the drivers right side, you can see the interior side of the radiator pipe that goes down the side of the car to the engine, it bends once in the c*ckpit, this bend of course, is by the rubber connector with 2 metal clasps. This rubber connector is connected to the rear firewall with a connector with 6 rivets. On each side of the seat, on the rear firewall, are two clasps, what they are for, I do not know. There is a pocket built into the base of the drivers seat, on the drivers left side. The tiny c*ckpit windshield has a chrome surround (sides only), and it flips down. The two side mirrors are held on by 3 rivets each, and the mirror glass looks better than any mirror glass I've seen on a model. Could it be a real mirror?
Wheels/Brakes: 6
The wheels have 70 spokes each, plus valve stems, center hubs, and the outer hub. All metal, no plastic. They can be removed by unscrewing the center knock offs. The tires are beatific also, they are labeled as Dunlop racing. The tread patterns are different for the front wheels and rear wheels. The rear wheels are also wider. This racer used the most advanced drum brakes around (advanced…ha, ha, ha, but its 1936) The drum brakes themselves are comprised of at least 12 parts each. They have cooling scoops that face forward so the rush of the air is directed to the drums. These drums also have copper wiring on them, cooling fins, and each drum brake is connected to a rubber brake fluid hose, which is connected to the drum brakes with a hexagonal nut. The inside side of the drums are a gun metal color, while the outside of the drum brakes are the same silver color as the car. The front brake drums differ in appearance from the rear brake drums on the inside and outside, so there was no cost cutting move here (or anywhere on the model).
Engine & Undercarriage Detail 8
The engine…there are numerous colors here also. We have copper, bronze, silver, chrome, black, brushed metal, brown, and gold. This is a 16 cylinder engine. The 16 exhausts are individually rendered, separate pieces of brushed metal. These brushed metal exhausts are connected to black metal tubes that go to the engine. These 16 exhausts are held to the black metal tubes by a metal band which is wrapped around it all. This band has holes in it, like a belt would. The engine of course is wired and plumbed. The CMC website says you can remove the spark plug wiring and sockets from the block, but I am afraid to try. The distributors are brown in color, and the spark plug wires come out of a brushed metal tube to meet the distributors. There are copper wires here, braided copper wires here, and the roots compressor has extremely well engraved cooling fins. It is silver with black bolts holding it on. It also has chrome pipes going to it and they are covered in places with rubber, I guess as some type of insulation. Behind the engine, you can see the transmission and axle going thru the body.
The under carriage is smooth and painted as well as the top and sides of the car. There is a cut out underneath the engine, you can see the bottom of the engine block, which is flat black and has cooling fins engraved into it. You can see some of the transmission, and it is flat silver in color Also, you see 3 braided copper tubes, 2 different drainage holes, one is chrome and sticks out below the car, the other is simply a hole. There are numerous rivets on the bottom of the car, and the separate body panels are obvious here also.
CMC's website says that their models are made in China, but I am not sure if this one is or not. There is no "Made in China", or "Crafted in China" on the body. There are references to Germany. This is molded into the body underside:
"Auto Union 1:18 Type C 1936-1937 CMC GmbH Germany". Nothing else.
Competition: 6
CMC does not have any competition at this time regarding this model.
Desirability: 6
Like an expensive jewel!
Overall: 50 + +
**Review added to the DX Model Review Database**
